Few points I've read up on today about this, seriously this is gonna be ace.

*For starters, the game won't put a limit on the number of people who can join an online clan. Ubisoft also claims that it aims to have "a very extensive web-based clan support system" in place

*During the interview with IGN, the game's creators state that "player versus player encounters will play a very big role in our game," and that transition between player versus NPC characters and player versus other online players will be entirely seamless.

*Ubi also confirmed that The Division's companion app will run on all mobile platforms, and will allow you to play together with console gamers entirely in real-time on your tablet from wherever you are.

The Division may be delayed until 2015 according to an anonymous source from Ubisoft Massive.

Speaking to GameReactor, the source claimed that while the recently-demonstrated Snowdrop Engine that powers the game is close to completion, only a sliver of the actual world has been built.

"The game engine works well, it's not done, but works well. The actual game development has barely started, however," said the anonymous insider.

“The fact that Ubisoft has gone public with a 2014 release date feels laughable to be perfectly honest.

"The fact that Ubisoft has gone public with a 2014 release date feels laughable to be perfectly honest, we will never be able to release The Division this year. It's a large project, and we have very far to go."

While unconfirmed, it's certainly possible that the title may have slipped to 2015 considering the fate that's befallen other Ubisoft titles. Last year, the publisher said that upcoming racer The Crew would release in the first quarter of 2014, with The Division following towards the end of the year. Since then though, a number of setbacks have occurred.

Firstly, Watch Dogs was delayed to the first part of 2014, then The Crew was pushed back to the second quarter of the year. While we still don't have a solid release date for The Crew, it would make sense for Ubisoft to want to leave a bit of a gap between launching its titles. This means that the earliest we could see The Division would be the tail end of the year or, as the source suggests, maybe not before 2015, especially as the PC version is planned to be far more than a simple port.

We reached out to Ubisoft for comment but were told the publisher doesn't comment on rumour and speculation. For the time being the rumour is unsubstantiated, but it's definitely not outside the realms of possibility.

I have said from Day 1 that The Division is my #1 target for PS4 - these videos have strengthened that. The first one looks f..king class. Only downside is I think that incessant talking is going to do my head in after about 10mins playing

I must admit that if Watch Dogs has taught us one thing it's that games are sometimes not what they seem. Everyone was salivating over watch dogs ( me included) but the final finished game is somewhat disappointing to most of our expectations. I'm more quietly cautious over The Division and although it looks fantastic, let's wait until we get hands on with it. Another thing that will make or break will be how players play the game, in terms of will people stick in their role in the game or will they just do there own thing which will be to the detriment of the game.

THE DIVISION IS MORE RPG THAN SHOOTER"For us, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to tell people how much of an RPG it is."

It's safe to say from the moment it was announced back at E3 2013, interest in Ubisoft's upcoming MMO shooter The Division has been incredibly high. Recently, however, we’ve been coaxed into focusing on other titles thanks to a lack of new information. Due to a delay and a lack of new information, an air of mystery has begun to surround the project.

The weight of expectation is more than sufficient to crush some of the past few years’ most-anticipated titles long before they’ve launched. It’s precisely for this reason art director Rodrigo Cortes and the rest of the team at Ubi Massive are content to play the long game. Determined to learn from the lessons of the past, there’s no plan to reveal anything before it’s ready and even then, he tells me when we sit down to talk, it won’t be done by press release. The hope is for potential previewers to have a full three days with the game so they can understand its intricacies before going away and writing about it, hopefully enabling the ensuing write-ups to contain the required nuance.

"We want to show gamers the game they will end up playing. We don’t want to sell a fantasy," Cortes says. "We’ve been persistent with our messaging about high targets and benchmarks, and we want to deliver that. Then it’s about making sure people get the game we’re promising so they don’t think it’s something else."

With this in mind, Cortes wants to make it clear from the off we should expect a title that owes more to its RPG heritage than anything else. While gameplay does indeed take the form of third-player cover-based shooting, the actual wider “point” of the game is all about that genre-defining progression of levelling up, hunting the best loot, and using all you find to scale even greater heights.

"For us, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to tell people how much of an RPG it is," Cortes explains. “It has shooting, and is shooter-like. If you look at it, that’s the whole point because we want it to be very immersive. But it’s not a shooter with some RPG stats tacked on. It’s actually a proper RPG from the very beginning. There’s deep progression when it comes to loot, gear and levels and you’ll be able to customise every skill, do exactly what you want and choose roles. So, that’s probably the biggest communication challenge. We want to make clear to everyone that it’s an RPG."

So that’s the mantra, but what about the details? As mentioned, Cortes and his team are adamant they won’t give us too many pieces of the puzzle in case we piece them together wrongly and end up hoping for something beyond what’s being promised. What he will offer, however, is a tantalising glimpse into the game’s class or archetype system, which sounds like it could be a refreshing mix between the traditional nod towards damage-absorbing, damage-dealing and healing classes we see in MMOs and RPGs and the loadouts found in shooters. The real draw on this front though is the flexibility Ubi is also adding, however.

Cortes gives an example of you starting down the path of a healer but then wanting to play with three friends of a similar class, so you can quickly switch to something "more short range or assault or closer to the action. You can switch between offensive, defensive and support skills on the fly."

The other thing he talks about is how the world will balance its multiplayer component with solo elements. Cortes stresses that while the experience is built to be played online in teams of four friends, along with one drone companion controlled using a mobile or tablet, it's perfectly possible to resolutely solo your way through the story content. You'll see other gamers out and about, but that's it. When I push deeper on the matter, however, Cortes explains The Division is set to make use of what sounds like instancing technology (where individual versions of the world are created for each player in sections).

"In the background, the technology being used to decide who is placed with who could be described almost as an instance but as a gamer it’s seamless. You walk out and are with your friends or whatever, but technologically I suppose you could say it’s an instance."

In essence, it sounds like The Division will have pockets of the world reserved just for you and your group mates, in much the same way as Destiny’s “no respawn” areas. Cortes explains the team decided to go down this route to prevent situations where you feel like you’re meant to be the chosen one, destined to save the world, only to encounter 30 compatriots in the exact same scenario. Taking this route allows Ubi Massive to craft a stronger and more immersive narrative for you and those you choose to play with.

And that, ultimately, is what Ubisoft Massive is passionate about achieving. One of, if not the, core tenet all RPGs are built on is story, and The Division’s is planned to go on for some time yet. Bungie has frequently talked about how it hopes Destiny will have a 10-year life-cycle and, while Cortes won’t put a figure on it, he explains post-launch support is absolutely coming. Whether this takes the form of patches, expansions or direct sequels remains to be seen.

"We want to keep the players playing for a long time," he says. "We don’t want to do a story that ends and it’s like you can take the disc and put it on the shelf. We want to keep the players enjoying the game in many different ways so we would obviously offer different activities like PvP, PvE and several progressions. First there’s the story progression, where you can finish the story and get more tidbits later on, but then there’s the progression of your gear, your stats, also of your base of operation. You can continue upgrading your base and yourself together. We’re hoping for endless gameplay. On top of that we’ll support the game heavily post-launch, though we won’t go into details yet."

The truth of the matter is, we don’t really know what to expect from The Division, but that’s okay. It’s a carefully orchestrated game Ubisoft is playing so we’re all clear about exactly what it is we’re getting. Despite my best efforts, Cortes won’t say when we’ll see the finished product, or even a sliver of it, though he does hint new details are coming and soon. After so long waiting for our thirst to be quenched, it’s sounding like we won’t want to be anywhere else when the floodgates finally open

Tom Clancy's The Division is adding a few extra months to its development schedule. Ubisoft revealed in its latest financial report that the massively multiplayer shooter is now slated for release in the fourth quarter of its 2015-2016 fiscal year, meaning January to March of 2016.

The Division was previously planned for release by the end of 2015. This isn't The Division's first delay - it was actually announced way back in 2013, when a new-gen exclusive game was an unusual concept. It's had a handful of release dates since then, and we've seen a few gameplay demos which have looked a bit like Destiny-meets-Ghost-Recon.

Ubisoft announced last week that The Division co-developers Red Storm and Ubisoft Reflections would be joined by Ubisoft Annecy, all working to supplement the main team at Massive Entertainment. That sounds like a bit of a crowd, until you remember that Ubisoft has 30 studios worldwide.

Ubisoft Annecy is best known for its work on the multiplayer components of the Assassin's Creed series. It turns out that Assassin's Creed: Syndicate won't have a multiplayer mode, so it makes sense that Annecy would move over to Ubisoft's biggest / most overdue online title.

Played about 45 mins on the single player missions and thought it was class, assuming they make 6 hours + of that then I will defo be getting it at some point.

Jumped into mp with mofo jooky and rich, didn't have a clue what was going on or if we were supposed to just walk around like doyles, no chat either so literally just followed them. Could be good if I knew what I was meant to be doing

Enjoyed the gameplay, missions were fun - but im not sure id want to play them over and over to grind my level.

Darkzone was very entertaining but not sure it has longevity. There were also plenty of 'spawn campers' near the entrances already, which was a nightmare.

This will all come down to the end game, will I want to keep playing it after I've done the main missions. I'm not convinced yet. It'll be pretty shitty to play with mates if you're all different levels as well. Going to wait for the reviews, not a release date purchase I don't *think*...

[quote="Boro85"]were also plenty of 'spawn campers' near the entrances already, which was a nightmare.[quote]

You found Able then?

I agree with you Pete, the repetition turns me off, and the grind element. Just no real fun. Needs a purpose other than levelling for eternity for better gear

probably not going to get this unless its been released a while, going down very well, and drops from the usual £45 start. but having said that, I'll then be a million miles behind everyone else, so what would be the point?